Fenerbahçe take on Laboral in EuroLeague Final Four match


Fenerbahçe will meet Spain's Laboral Kutxa Vitoria for a berth in the final after six-time winners CSKA Moscow take on fellow Russians Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in the opening semi-final in Berlin's Mercedes-Benz Arena today.Turkish team are favourites to win the Euroleague, which no other Turkish club has done. After several years of heavy investment, the club boasts an array of European household names and several former NBA campaigners. Fenerbahçe got sweet revenge for their 2015 defeat by brushing Real Madrid aside 3-0 in their best-of-five series to reach this year's Final Four. Standing in their way will be Laboral Kutxa, one of the season's two surprise packages, who swept past Panathinaikos 3-0 in the quarter-finals thanks to lethal three-point shooting. Their Croatian coach Velimir Perasovic acknowledged Laboral faced a daunting task against Fenerbahce."From day one they are one of the favourites to win the Euroleague," he said. "Every time you have Zeljko Obradovic as a coach you are one of the favourites. He is without a doubt the best European coach."They have a great balance, a lot of quality individuals and players who are hungry for success. But no team is unbeatable."CSKA, who won their last title in 2008, will hope to put recent near-misses behind them as they lock horns with Final Four debutants Lokomotiv, who stunned two-time winners Barcelona on the road to Berlin. Having lost two finals and four semis since capturing their last crown, CSKA will bank on the experience of playing familiar domestic opposition.